Protected Person Applications
A Protected Person Application applies to a person who identifies as a refugee or a person in need of protection. Canada is always looking to improve efficiency in delivering faster decisions, resettling genuine refugees, facilitating adaptation and settlement to life in Canada, deterring an abuse of the immigration process, and addressing failed refugee claimant applications in a timely fashion.
Convention Refugee Defined
An individual may be considered a Convention refugee if they have a well-founded fear of persecution upon returning to their country of citizenship or country of legal permanent residence. There are five forms of persecution recognized by the international community: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group (e.g. gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and political opinion. To claim refugee status, the fear of persecution must be based on one of these five forms. The applicant must demonstrate that their country is unable or unwilling to provide them with adequate state protection.
A Person in Need of Protection Defined
A person in need of protection is at risk of cruel and unusual punishment or death. The individual may also be at risk of torture, which is defined in international law as actions at the hands of the government agents or actions with which government agents are complicit.
To be deemed a person in need of protection, the applicant must demonstrate that the risk they fear is personalized. That is, it cannot be a risk faced generally by people within one’s country. Consequently, a person at risk of, for example, extortion because they have money or are perceived to have money, face the same risk as others with money. Such a risk is not personalized unless there is some characteristic that led to that particular person, as opposed to all other affluent people being targeted.
Application for Permanent Residence
If you are accepted as a refugee claimant, then you can immediately apply for permanent residence to Canada and be on your way to becoming a Canadian citizen.
